Travelog with Jem

So Ryanair big boss Michael OLeary is offering free flights 5 to 10 years from now. How is that possible?

I have flown with Ryanair cheap flights. Last March I flew from Lisbon to Stansted under £50 Business Class. Now you can fly to any destinations in Europe for £5 one way or under £20 return and there is no catch. No hidden fees. Thats way cheaper than my train ticket to London from Norwich comparing the distance and the mode of travel. One might think, How much cheaper can it get?

It could be free! Well, its gonna be free and plans are already underway.

So where are they gonna get their money from?

According to Mr. OLeary by offering free flights all the seats would be taken Ryanair will be be making our money out of sharing the airport revenues; of all the people who will be running through airports, and getting a share of the shopping and the retail revenues at airports. (Source: Mirror.co.uk)

Does that mean retail prices at the airports will have to increase?

In order to serve more people, Ryanair plan to offer flights from new airports across Europe and buy more aircraft to accommodate more passengers.

What about crowd control?

My question is, How are they going to control the number of passengers wanting to fly? With free flights, I could imagine an influx at the airport if people will fly every chance they get. Is Ryanair going to implement a restriction of say, only one flight per person per week is allowed?

What else would it entail?

Even if Ryanair acquire more aircraft they will only have to accommodate so much passengers. Will all the seats get booked up up to several months ahead? What happens if a person needs to fly for business or emergency reason but couldnt find a flight because all seats have been taken?

Or maybe Im just thinking too much. Right now people could fly anytime they want for under £20 and I see that there are always seats available if you book early enough. Perhaps people will not really fly more even if Ryanair offer free flights because they will still have to pay for food and accommodation and they just cant leave work anytime they want.

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It was a warm Sunday morning on the 4th December 2016. Garbed with a thin knitted black jumper, I was walking to the Asian shop and looked up cheerfully at the clear blue sky above me and heaved a sigh of contentment. I noticed a biplane painting a circle with its vapour. I watched the stunt curiously and waited what message it was going to show. Is this another sign in the sky? I asked myself. The biplane disappeared and I thought that was it. Then I saw two dashes appeared on the right side of the circle. Setting aside my mission, I quickly grabbed my phone to take a photo and a video. A couple of people behind me also stopped and followed suit. The plane vanished again and after a few moments it appeared just a few distance from the dashes making a pi before disappearing completely.

From my location, couldnt figure out whether it was a smiley or a Snoopy.

Puzzled, I made a quick search for what was going on in Norwich but didnt find any information.

A couple of days earlier while waiting for my bus home, I also saw a plane circling the sky. It was about 10 times larger or more than the latter one. I was thinking whether it was a sign in the sky and wondering what could be the meaning of it. Then I reckoned it could be a flight waiting to land at the Heathrow airport.

When I got home I showed the photo to my neighbour and he said that it was not the first time it happened. Few days later he sent me the link to the news report regarding the smiley face. So it was a smiley face and not Snoopy.

Whats the story behind it?

Five days later, Eastern Daily Press published the story about the stunt.

Willie Cruickshank, who owned the Pitts Special Biplane dropped off his daughter at a rowing in Whitlingham Lake. The girl was in a grumpy mood. Probably she wanted to stay with her dad. When Mr Cruickshank went flying later he saw the lake from the sky he thought of making a smiley face to cheer his daughter up.

What else could a dad do to make his daughter happy?

Well, Im sure it wasnt just Mr Cruickshanks daughter who became happy on that day but everyone who saw it.